Images of Jesus, right or wrong?

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*Sigh* Again, we are not talking about artists or artwork in general here or photos of people in general. We are talking about artwork, statues, or photos that are regarded by a religious group who believes that such a thing (usually a person or an animal) as a visualization of their God, whereby they use this image to aid in their contact of such deity. But even if they did not contact such a deity and they had an image of a false God like statues of Dagon or Horus the sun god in their home, that would still be pretty disturbing to even own such imagery (if one is a Christian).

But if artists are creating artwork that is in line with objects that men consider as gods or deities, then... "yes".... the Bible condemns them and not me (See Exodus 20:4-5). Just owning the idols is enough to have them destroyed. Otherwise God would never have told His people to destroy their idols (See Deuteronomy 7:25). What circumstance can you think of in your life or in the lives of other fellow believers where they could destroy idols like the Israelites did?
We're actually on the same page. I believe exactly the same. I wouldn't have anything like that in my home, even if I wouldn't worship it. It is still an object of worship by some culture, and some believe that having them in one's home invites the spirit behind it to enter in as well. I have heard of things going wrong in a family until the object is removed from the home.
 
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Lost4words

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Graven images is mentioned in the OT at a time when the Jews would worship anything including the golden calf.

In the NT we have Jesus. God became man. We have the Shroud. We know what Jesus looked like.

I am sure God knows our minds. He knows who we worship. We dont worship the golden calf!
 
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Graven images is mentioned in the OT at a time when the Jews would worship anything including the golden calf.

In the NT we have Jesus. God became man. We have the Shroud. We know what Jesus looked like.

I am sure God knows our minds. He knows who we worship. We dont worship the golden calf!
Oh. I believe the Shroud is a medieval fake. Jesus doesn't look like that. We have testimonies of those who have had near death experiences and have gone to heaven and met Jesus, and their description is not a European with long straight hair and a beard. The Jesus they saw had short hair, bright piercing loving eyes, and was clean shaven.
Just a thought...
 
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We're actually on the same page. I believe exactly the same. I wouldn't have anything like that in my home, even if I wouldn't worship it. It is still an object of worship by some culture, and some believe that having them in one's home invites the spirit behind it to enter in as well. I have heard of things going wrong in a family until the object is removed from the home.

I am glad we are in agreement.

May God bless you.
 
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Oh. I believe the Shroud is a medieval fake. Jesus doesn't look like that. We have testimonies of those who have had near death experiences and have gone to heaven and met Jesus, and their description is not a European with long straight hair and a beard. The Jesus they saw had short hair, bright piercing loving eyes, and was clean shaven.
Just a thought...

I have come to believe that all visions (after the book of Revelation of course) are false. It seems like every half baked story of some person's visitation I read is totally not in line with Scripture. But that's because I am more skeptical than most. I seek to scrutinize (whereas others are more accepting). Granted, what some of them experienced could have been very real to them, but that does not mean that such a vision was from God. We have to remember that the devil can appear as an angel of light, too.
 
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That is a summary of a deficient Christology. The Jesus you describe isn't the Jesus described in Scripture. Historically it is similar to the heresy of Monophysitism.

Well, I can come up with a fancy Theological term and call it heresy if folks do not believe that Jesus is 100% God and His body was just an empty shell or temple. But the difference here is that I know that I would be right in saying so because I have Scripture backing up what I am actually saying. How so?

Well, just find me one verse.

Just one verse that says that Jesus has a human soul or a verse that strongly suggests that.

You won't find one.

You said:
The Bible teaches Jesus had a human nature. I quoted from Torrey's New Topical Textbook because it is still one of the best.

The Human Nature of Christ

Was necessary to His mediatorial office:
1 Tim 2:5. Heb 2:17. Gal 4:4, 5. 1 Cor 15:21. Rom 6:15, 19.
IS PROVED BY HIS
Conception in the Virgin’s womb. Mat 1:18. Luke 1:31.
Birth. Matt 1:16, 25. Matt 2:2. Luke 2:7, 11.
Partaking of flesh and blood. Jno. 1:14. Heb. 2:14.

While this describes the physical aspect of Christ's human nature, the above verses do not describe that He had a created human soul (that He possessed or merged with).

You said:
Having a human soul. Matt 26:38.

Matthew 26:38 (ESV) says,
"Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death;
remain here, and watch with me.”


Nothing is stated here in this above verse that suggests that Jesus has a human soul. This verse can also be equally true if Christ's soul was 100% divine (of which it was). Why?

First, God can be sorrowful living in a body unto death. There is no conflict with making such a statement.

Second, Hebrews 7 says,
"For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;" (Hebrews 7:26).

If Jesus had a human soul, He would not be made higher than the heavens and holy and separate from sinners. He would not be harmless as Hebrews 7:26 says. For if lust ruled in his human soul or nature, then He would not be harmless but He could be potentially violent like every other man. But Jesus was holy and undefiled and separate from sinners. Why? Because He is God 100% on the inside. The body was just an empty shell.

You said:
Luke 23:46.

Luke 23:46 says,
"And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit: and having said this, he gave up the spirit."

Again, this verse above here is not saying Jesus has a human soul.

Jesus was limited in knowledge because He suppressed His Omniscience.
Jesus also saying that He commends His spirit to the Father and then He gave up His spirit is the very essence of who the Word (the Logos) is. While the text does not specifically say here, we can safely come to the conclusion that Jesus's reference to His spirit is a reference to Him being the second person of the Godhead or the Trinity. For God is spirit. Did Jesus have two spirits? One God and one that was human? No. Did Jesus have a half a spirit that was half deity and half human (created)? No. Nothing in Scripture suggests such a thing.

You said:
Acts 2:31.

Acts of the Apostles 2:31 says,
"He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption."

Okay, you may not realize this or not, but Scripture says God has a soul.

  • Leviticus 26:11
    And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.
  • Leviticus 26:30
    And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
  • Isaiah 42:1
    Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
  • Zechariah 11:8
    Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
  • Matthew 12:18
    Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
  • Hebrews 10:38
    Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

This means that the Word (the Logos) second person of the Godhead or the Trinity was in the realm of the dead within the heart of the Earth while His physical body (an empty shell) was in the tomb. So again, this verse does not say or suggest Jesus had a human soul. In order for there to be a verse that says this, we would need a verse to say something like:

"And the Word was made into a new living soul and he was made flesh."

But Scripture does not say anything like that.

You said:
Circumcision. Luke 2:21.

This is an outward thing. This is not talking about how He had a human soul.

You said:
Increase in wisdom and stature. Luke 2:52.

Yes. This is true. Jesus suppressed His divine attribute of Omniscience. This was so that He could be a like figure (or a parallel) of Adam. For Adam was also limited in knowledge before the Fall. Jesus was to be the second Adam (so as to be our substitute and restore us back to a new Garden Paradise). While Jesus did operate by the Spirit and by the power of God the Father, Jesus also had power as God on His own (including knowing many things that no man could possibly know).

Jesus had power as God (During His Earthly ministry):

#1. Jesus said He has power to raise the dead to life just as the Father had power to raise the dead (John 5:21).
#2. Hebrews 1:3 talks about how Christ held all things together by the word of His power when He purged us of our sins.
#3. Jesus said, He would raise up this Temple (His body) three days later (John 2:19).
#4. Jesus had the power to forgive sins and give eternal life (Mark 2:7) (Luke 7:44-50) (John 14:6).
#5 Jesus had power to take away the sins of the entire world (John 1:29).
#6. Jesus Christ said wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them (Matthew 18:20). This was said to the people he was around and not to just us today.
#7. Jesus knew men's thoughts (Matthew 9:4) (Matthew 12:25) (Mark 2:8) (Luke 5:22) (Luke 6:8) (Luke 9:47) (Luke 24:38).
#8. Jesus knew about the lives of others (John 2:24) (John 4:17-18) (John 4:29) (John 6:64).

You said:
Weeping. Luke 19:41. Jno. 11:35.

Again, we do not know the effect of how God would experience things through a human body. He could very well cry through a human body or it could simply be that being limited in knowledge to some degree was able to make Him cry like us. So this is not hard concrete proof that Jesus had a human soul. In fact, I would venture to say that He did not have one because Scripture says this about Jesus.

Micah 5:2 says,
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

So if Jesus has a human soul that was created during the Incarnation, then how exactly can Micah 5:2 say that His goings forth have been from everlasting? Yeah, it just doesn't add up or make any sense.

You said:
Hungering. Matt 4:2. Mat. 21:18.
Thirsting. Jno. 4:7. Jno. 19:28.
Sleeping. Matt 8:24. Mark 4:38.
Being subject to weariness. Jno. 4:6.
Being buffeted. Mat. 26:67. Luke 22:64.
Enduring indignities. Luke 23:11.
Being scourged. Mat. 27:26. Jno. 19:1.
Being nailed to the cross. Psa. 22:16, with Luke 23:33.
Death. Jno. 19:30.
Side being pierced. Jno. 19:34.
Burial. Mat. 27:59, 60. Mar. 15:46.

These are all describing physical traits of a physical human body and not a human soul.

You said:
Being a man of sorrows. Isa 53:3, 4. Luke 22:44. Jno. 11:33. Jno. 12:27.

Jesus was a man because He has a physical flesh and blood body. As for being sorrowful: Well, God can be sorrowful. So I do not see how this is saying or suggesting that He has a human soul.

You said:
Resurrection. Acts 3:15. 2 Tim. 2:8.

Okay. The resurrection is an act of God and not a human act. So I am not sure why this author made this point in reference to the humanity of Christ.

You said:
Was like our own in all things except sin. Acts 3:22. Phi. 2:7, 8. Heb. 2:17.

Okay. Very strange here. These verses do not say what the author says it does here.

You said:
Was without sin. Heb. 7:26, 28. 1 Jno. 3:5. 1 Pet. 2:22. Heb. 4:15. Jno. 18:38. Jno. 8:46.

Okay. This proves that Jesus is God and not human. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. If Jesus was human as a part of His soul, He would be flawed like every other man.

You said:
Was submitted to the evidence of the senses. Luke 24:39. Jno. 20:27. 1 Jno. 1:1, 2.
WAS OF THE SEED OF
The woman. Gen. 3:15. Isa. 7:4. Jer. 31:22. Luke 1:31. Gal. 4:4.
Abraham. Gen. 22:18, with Gal. 3:16. Heb. 2:16.
David. 2 Sam. 7:12, 16. Psa. 89:35, 36. Jer. 23:5. Mat. 22:42. Mar. 10:47. Acts 2:30. Acts 13:23. Rom. 1:3.
Genealogy of. Mat. 1:1, &c. Luke 3:23, &c.
Attested by Himself. Mat. 8:20. Mat. 16:13.
Confession of, a test of belonging to God. Jno. 4:2.
Acknowledged by men. Mar. 6:3. Jno. 7:27. Jno. 19:5. Acts 2:22.

Okay. This is just talking about the physical body again. This is not proof that He had a human soul.

You said:
Denied by Antichrist. 1 Jno. 4:3. 2 Jno. 7.

The key to understanding here is 1 John 4:3. Jesus was manifested in the flesh. Jesus has always existed as the second person of the Godhead.

1 Timothy 3:16 says,
"God was manifest in the flesh,"

1 Timothy 3:16 does not say that God merged with a human soul along with being manifest in the flesh. God could not manifest fully in the flesh if God's eternal soul merged with a created human soul. He would no longer be God fully at 100% capacity if such were the case.
 
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Lost4words

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Oh. I believe the Shroud is a medieval fake. Jesus doesn't look like that. We have testimonies of those who have had near death experiences and have gone to heaven and met Jesus, and their description is not a European with long straight hair and a beard. The Jesus they saw had short hair, bright piercing loving eyes, and was clean shaven.
Just a thought...

No proof that it is a medievel fake. Science cannot explain how the image was 'made' and the carbon dating was done on a strip of cloth that was used to repair it during the middle ages.

Near death experiences have brought up many different views of how Jesus looked.
 
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zoidar

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I will admit. I am an artist (comic book artist) and I am very visual when it comes to things. In fact, God used a comic book tract called "This Was Your Life" to help me accept Jesus as my Savior by prayer. But it was not the image of Jesus that drew me to Him. It was the fear of being cast into the Lake of Fire for my sins. Granted, I do not believe the Lake of Fire is an endless torture chamber (but it is a place of eventual destruction of the wicked), but at the time, I did not want to be punished by the Lord. So I repented (asked God's forgiveness of my sins). The image in my mind that convinced me was the angel casting a person into the Lake of Fire. That is all I needed to repent. Yes, it was not until way later that I discovered that Jesus was not white and European looking. But the point here is that I kept seeking the truth about the Lord my God in whom I accepted. For me: Once the truth was revealed to me that Jesus is not white, I could not go back to believing a lie.

By showing Jesus, I meant not only in art, but in words, songs, good works etc.
 
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zoidar

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I am going to emphasize what you just said to me.

"They chose to worship another god,
because they weren't happy with the true God."
~ Zoidar.​

The same is true for the golden calf as it is for a white European Jesus.

You think that people that believe that Jesus had an European look, worship another God? If someone were to paint me from discription, without having seen me, I would have no problem if they gave me a different tone of skin, or hair. What would have made me happy, would be if the general features were there, that I could be recognized. Of course I wouldn't be too happy if they made me into a centaur, and arguing I looked like that. I believe it's the same with images of Jesus. I agree that some pictures of Jesus is very "un-Jesus-like". It's like the artist don't know him at all.

A person conjuring up a popular image of Jesus (in their head) is taken from a false idol image of Jesus that is not true. Jesus is not white or European looking (like us). He is a traditional Jew (Which means He is middle Eastern in appearance, darker in skin tone with different facial features).

I don't think it's about conjuring images of Jesus in the head, they just appear when you pray (at least to me). I believe that many Jews had a brighter skin colour at that time, than we see today in the Middle East.

Jesus says to worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). One is not worshiping God in truth if they are worshiping Him with an image of God that is a lie. The golden calf image is a lie just as much as the white version of Jesus is a lie. There is no difference. But you simply don't want to see it because you have gotten comfortable with such said image of Jesus. But if I made a picture of Jesus to look like a centaur (with his lower half being like a horse and his upper part of his body being human), it would be a lie, right? Jesus is not half animal and half man anymore than Jesus is a white man. Both are lies. So why promote a lie? It is not right. People can potentially worship that false image of Jesus and think that is what He really looks like.

A centaur would be a false image, since it's giving Jesus characteristics he didn't have. I believe like I said, that when you know Jesus by heart, you know him also by sight. There are some people that do worship images, I'm aware of that. But it wouldn't help them to take the images down, they would simply make another image to worship. So the problem is the worshipping of images, and not the images themselves.

Because there are no groups that worship my grand father in such a way. Nobody has turned my grandparents (who are now deceased) into statues or idols to bow down to. I would probably put away any pictures of my grandparents if I discovered a group of people making a statue of my grandpa and they were worshiping him. Why? Because God tells us to destroy idols within His Word. In other words, my picture can be a stumbling block for this group of people who are bowing down to a statue of my grandpa. But seeing nobody is really bowing down to my grandpa, I am free to display a picture of him if I desired.

I would never have an image that is a misrepresentation, like an image where Mary is queen of heaven, or anything like that. If the image of Mary is correct, there is no problem. The problem would be theology, learning the wrong things about Mary.

Then the person who knows this other person idolizes their grandfather (in whom they worshiped as a statue or as a picture) should put away all pictures of him in their house so that this other person is not tempted to bow down in worship of him.

Why do you think King Hezekiah destroyed the brass serpent?
Because it was being treated as a god.
People today are making statues and images of a false image of Jesus and they are saying....

"This is God!"

Yet, God commanded the Israelites to destroy their idols (See Deuteronomy 7:25). Again, if it was just about how they could keep these idols as long as they did not worship them, then God would have said for them to do that. But God knew they would be tempted to say that such things were gods (When they are not). God wanted these idols destroyed. They are no different than the idol of a white Jesus today. So how exactly are you destroying statues or idols today in your own life? I know I do not have any false idol images of Jesus on display anymore in my home. I put away these idols.

Can you find one place in the Bible where someone has an image of God which they are not worshipping, where the scripture says that the image has to be destroyed?
 
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DamianWarS

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Since we got into to a discussion in another thread about this, I decided to make this thread. So what do you think, is it right to make or have images of Jesus, why, why not?
Inherently no, but it depends on the heart and how we treat such images.

Culture can play a role and we may find some are predisposed to images of deities and sometimes those values carry idolatry and sometimes they don't, other cultures have allergies to any images of God and feel it is dishonouring to God.

As it stands Jesus was God incarnate and he did have human characteristics that were not above being captured. So you could say when we see his image we implicitly see an image of God. Although this is not incorrect as it captures Christ's identity as God I think it should be prefaced with "we see the image of the incarnate God" because that is what we see when we see Jesus. How we are able to see God through the image of Christ is a mystery but Jesus is God incarnate so his image is the image of the incarnate God.
 
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Athanasius377

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Well, I can come up with a fancy Theological term and call it heresy if folks do not believe that Jesus is 100% God and His body was just an empty shell or temple. But the difference here is that I know that I would be right in saying so because I have Scripture backing up what I am actually saying. How so?

Well, just find me one verse.

Just one verse that says that Jesus has a human soul or a verse that strongly suggests that.

You won't find one.



While this describes the physical aspect of Christ's human nature, the above verses do not describe that He had a created human soul (that He possessed or merged with).



Matthew 26:38 (ESV) says,
"Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death;
remain here, and watch with me.”


Nothing is stated here in this above verse that suggests that Jesus has a human soul. This verse can also be equally true if Christ's soul was 100% divine (of which it was). Why?

First, God can be sorrowful living in a body unto death. There is no conflict with making such a statement.

Second, Hebrews 7 says,
"For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;" (Hebrews 7:26).

If Jesus had a human soul, He would not be made higher than the heavens and holy and separate from sinners. He would not be harmless as Hebrews 7:26 says. For if lust ruled in his human soul or nature, then He would not be harmless but He could be potentially violent like every other man. But Jesus was holy and undefiled and separate from sinners. Why? Because He is God 100% on the inside. The body was just an empty shell.



Luke 23:46 says,
"And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit: and having said this, he gave up the spirit."

Again, this verse above here is not saying Jesus has a human soul.

Jesus was limited in knowledge because He suppressed His Omniscience.
Jesus also saying that He commends His spirit to the Father and then He gave up His spirit is the very essence of who the Word (the Logos) is. While the text does not specifically say here, we can safely come to the conclusion that Jesus's reference to His spirit is a reference to Him being the second person of the Godhead or the Trinity. For God is spirit. Did Jesus have two spirits? One God and one that was human? No. Did Jesus have a half a spirit that was half deity and half human (created)? No. Nothing in Scripture suggests such a thing.



Acts of the Apostles 2:31 says,
"He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption."

Okay, you may not realize this or not, but Scripture says God has a soul.

  • Leviticus 26:11
    And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.
  • Leviticus 26:30
    And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
  • Isaiah 42:1
    Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
  • Zechariah 11:8
    Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
  • Matthew 12:18
    Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
  • Hebrews 10:38
    Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

This means that the Word (the Logos) second person of the Godhead or the Trinity was in the realm of the dead within the heart of the Earth while His physical body (an empty shell) was in the tomb. So again, this verse does not say or suggest Jesus had a human soul. In order for there to be a verse that says this, we would need a verse to say something like:

"And the Word was made into a new living soul and he was made flesh."

But Scripture does not say anything like that.



This is an outward thing. This is not talking about how He had a human soul.



Yes. This is true. Jesus suppressed His divine attribute of Omniscience. This was so that He could be a like figure (or a parallel) of Adam. For Adam was also limited in knowledge before the Fall. Jesus was to be the second Adam (so as to be our substitute and restore us back to a new Garden Paradise). While Jesus did operate by the Spirit and by the power of God the Father, Jesus also had power as God on His own (including knowing many things that no man could possibly know).

Jesus had power as God (During His Earthly ministry):

#1. Jesus said He has power to raise the dead to life just as the Father had power to raise the dead (John 5:21).
#2. Hebrews 1:3 talks about how Christ held all things together by the word of His power when He purged us of our sins.
#3. Jesus said, He would raise up this Temple (His body) three days later (John 2:19).
#4. Jesus had the power to forgive sins and give eternal life (Mark 2:7) (Luke 7:44-50) (John 14:6).
#5 Jesus had power to take away the sins of the entire world (John 1:29).
#6. Jesus Christ said wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them (Matthew 18:20). This was said to the people he was around and not to just us today.
#7. Jesus knew men's thoughts (Matthew 9:4) (Matthew 12:25) (Mark 2:8) (Luke 5:22) (Luke 6:8) (Luke 9:47) (Luke 24:38).
#8. Jesus knew about the lives of others (John 2:24) (John 4:17-18) (John 4:29) (John 6:64).



Again, we do not know the effect of how God would experience things through a human body. He could very well cry through a human body or it could simply be that being limited in knowledge to some degree was able to make Him cry like us. So this is not hard concrete proof that Jesus had a human soul. In fact, I would venture to say that He did not have one because Scripture says this about Jesus.

Micah 5:2 says,
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

So if Jesus has a human soul that was created during the Incarnation, then how exactly can Micah 5:2 say that His goings forth have been from everlasting? Yeah, it just doesn't add up or make any sense.



These are all describing physical traits of a physical human body and not a human soul.



Jesus was a man because He has a physical flesh and blood body. As for being sorrowful: Well, God can be sorrowful. So I do not see how this is saying or suggesting that He has a human soul.



Okay. The resurrection is an act of God and not a human act. So I am not sure why this author made this point in reference to the humanity of Christ.



Okay. Very strange here. These verses do not say what the author says it does here.



Okay. This proves that Jesus is God and not human. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. If Jesus was human as a part of His soul, He would be flawed like every other man.



Okay. This is just talking about the physical body again. This is not proof that He had a human soul.



The key to understanding here is 1 John 4:3. Jesus was manifested in the flesh. Jesus has always existed as the second person of the Godhead.

1 Timothy 3:16 says,
"God was manifest in the flesh,"

1 Timothy 3:16 does not say that God merged with a human soul along with being manifest in the flesh. God could not manifest fully in the flesh if God's eternal soul merged with a created human soul. He would no longer be God fully at 100% capacity if such were the case.

Don't bother responding to me again. We don't believe in the same Jesus. Peace
 
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Since we got into to a discussion in another thread about this, I decided to make this thread. So what do you think, is it right to make or have images of Jesus, why, why not?

May I also pose a question?

After you leave this earth, do you mind if your family distributes pictures of just-anyone, and says it is you? Personally, I would have a strong preference about that...and I'm not exactly the Lord of Glory.

I can tell you this. A chubby-cheeked, goofy-looking cartoon caricature of the Most High God can almost send me in into a state of utter despair over the state of His Church. Has no one else experienced the glory-cloud of His Presence, which lowers one's face to the floor?

How dare we show that image to a little child, and say it is the One Who Inhabits Eternity - Yeshua Hamashiach - the Mighty One of Israel, the Light of the Gentiles, the Risen Savior?

At the least, I am confused. A better word is appalled.
 
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Don't bother responding to me again. We don't believe in the same Jesus. Peace

Well, that was a curt response, my friend. Are you not going to at least try and defend your position of your version of Jesus with the Bible?

I asked you to show me a verse that specifically says or suggests Jesus had a human soul. I will take it that by response that you cannot actually defend your position.

I showed you that the verses that the author you quote does not actually refer to Jesus having a human soul. I took the time to go over those verses; And just by reading them, they simply do not say what you (or the author) want them to say.
 
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You think that people that believe that Jesus had an European look, worship another God? If someone were to paint me from discription, without having seen me, I would have no problem if they gave me a different tone of skin, or hair. What would have made me happy, would be if the general features were there, that I could be recognized. Of course I wouldn't be too happy if they made me into a centaur, and arguing I looked like that. I believe it's the same with images of Jesus. I agree that some pictures of Jesus is very "un-Jesus-like". It's like the artist don't know him at all.



I don't think it's about conjuring images of Jesus in the head, they just appear when you pray (at least to me). I believe that many Jews had a brighter skin colour at that time, than we see today in the Middle East.



A centaur would be a false image, since it's giving Jesus characteristics he didn't have. I believe like I said, that when you know Jesus by heart, you know him also by sight. There are some people that do worship images, I'm aware of that. But it wouldn't help them to take the images down, they would simply make another image to worship. So the problem is the worshipping of images, and not the images themselves.



I would never have an image that is a misrepresentation, like an image where Mary is queen of heaven, or anything like that. If the image of Mary is correct, there is no problem. The problem would be theology, learning the wrong things about Mary.



Can you find one place in the Bible where someone has an image of God which they are not worshipping, where the scripture says that the image has to be destroyed?

I don't think you are grasping what I am trying to say. You said a Centaur version of Jesus would be a false image because he did not have those characteristics. Yet, on the other hand, it would be okay to promote or make a white version of Jesus. However, Jesus did not have the facial characteristics of being a white European. I don't see the difference. Both the Centaur version of Jesus and the white European version of Jesus have false characteristics and are false images.

As for the destruction of idols: I already given you verse for that. Deuteronomy 7:25. Also, check out 2 Kings 18:4. In your worldview, it appears that you make for an allowance for idols to exist as long as we don't bow down to them. But God tells us in His Word that He wants us to destroy them.
 
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May I also pose a question?

After you leave this earth, do you mind if your family distributes pictures of just-anyone, and says it is you? Personally, I would have a strong preference about that...and I'm not exactly the Lord of Glory.

I can tell you this. A chubby-cheeked, goofy-looking cartoon caricature of the Most High God can almost send me in into a state of utter despair over the state of His Church. Has no one else experienced the glory-cloud of His Presence, which lowers one's face to the floor?

How dare we show that image to a little child, and say it is the One Who Inhabits Eternity - Yeshua Hamashiach - the Mighty One of Israel, the Light of the Gentiles, the Risen Savior?

At the least, I am confused. A better word is appalled.

All we can do is plant seeds and pray, my friend.
 
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Jesus, being God, could have any 'look' he desired.

Is lying wrong?
Yes, or no?
Can you lie by using pictures (or a picture) instead of words?
Yes, or no?
 
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Depictions of Jesus in churches are based on visions and relics, so they aren't biblical but neither are they really unbiblical. There's nothing wrong with images from a Lutheran POV, but they are not considered essential to the faith.
 
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Depictions of Jesus in churches are based on visions and relics, so they aren't biblical but neither are they really unbiblical. There's nothing wrong with images from a Lutheran POV, but they are not considered essential to the faith.

Not all images of Jesus are the same. They are all clearly false images promoting a lie. Lying is bad according to the Bible.
 
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ubicaritas

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Not all images of Jesus are the same. They are all clearly false images promoting a lie. Lying is bad according to the Bible.

You haven't really proven a point, just made an assertion with nothing to back it up.

And I agree with Athanasius' sentiments, your Christology is heretical according to historic Christian churches. Christ's body is divine, not an empty shell.
 
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